This paper studies multi-agent optimal contracting with cost synergies. We model synergies as the extent to which …

We investigate the effect of competition on quality in regulated markets (e.g., health care, higher education, public … utilities) taking a differential game approach, in which quality is a stock variable. Using a Hotelling framework, we derive the … the marginal provision cost is increasing, investment and quality are lower in the closed-loop solution: in fact, quality …

We evaluate the quality differentials between developing and developed countries' textiles and clothing exports …. Theoretical analyses often conclude that protection leads to quality upgrading (downgrading) of imports (domestic production …), while recent empirical work suggests that it shifts the quality of foreign and domestic goods in the same direction. Using a …

firm (possibly the low-quality one) may capture the entire market. When product qualities are different, we may also have … quality firm captures a larger market share. …

We investigate the effect of competition on quality in regulated markets (e.g., health care, higher education, public … increasing, the steady state quality is higher under the open- loop solution than under the closed-loop solution. Fiercer … competition (lower transportation costs and/or less sluggish demand) leads to higher quality in both solutions, but the quality …

efficiency. First, treatment firms have higher productivity and quality after accounting for rug specifications. Second, when …. Treatment firms report 15-25 percent higher profits and exhibit large improvements in quality alongside reductions in output per … hour relative to control firms. These findings do not simply reflect firms being offered higher margins to manufacture high-quality …

health care markets. We show that competition generally favours the majority group as higher quality for the majority is an … effective way to increase the quality signal and attract patients. A regulator who is concerned about equity may protect the …, competition can improve equity by forcing the providers to increase quality for the majority group. …